Mississippi Sabal minor

[Ellocot]

Hello everyone, I've recently moved to Mississippi Zone 8b (many zone 9 plants such as caladiums are perennials here, but squirrels eat them). 

 

I lived in Pennsylvania Zone 6a prior to this.

 

 

I've discovered that many palm trees will grow here.

 

 

And, the property that we've moved to has what I'm fairly sure is a Sabal minor plant. One older plant has a trunk. There's a few others nearby .

 

I was a bit confused, as I'd thought that these didn't get trunks.

 

I think that some people may consider these to be palms, since they get trunks.

 

Some neighbors brushhog these immediately and think they're hard to get rid of once established.

 

The ones I'm posting are by a pool.

 

 

I was actually looking at seeds of a Sabal minor variety, for purchase. I thought these plants looked very similar, then they flowered and have fruits now. That all seems to have confirmed things.

 

 

The fruits are bigger now.

 

 

I've also heard of Sabal mexicana and Sabal palmetto (that ones well known). From what I've read they should both be more than hardy here.

 

 

I've also heard of Sabal brazoriensis, which is genetically a S. minor x S. palmetto. An ancient hybrid, according to research. Their ranges don't currently overlap in Texas. S. palmetto grows in the Florida panhandle.

I've found people online in colder zones breeding Sabal minor for cold hardiness and for food. I thought, why not try for interspecific hybrids too?

 

Heres some more species:

Sabal etonia, Sabal bermudana, Sabal miamiensis, Sabal maritima, Sabal domingensis, Sabal causiarum, Sabal maurittiformis, Sabal yapa, Sabal uresana, Sabal rosei and Sabal pumos also exist.

There's a few others too.

Sabal bermudana, is obviously from the Bermuda Islands. That would be a fun one to play around with. It supposedly grows in Zone 8b when it's grown as an ornamental - found some records of different people online, and zone 8 may be fine too. Which is very interesting because it's from a warm island that doesn't get anywhere near as cold to warrant that.

It would be interesting to see if any of these can cross - and many are in trade as ornamentals. Some are in different clades.

Dwarf Palmetto is great. Small berries are best on small plants. Otherwise, they're a pain to pick, or they fall / get eaten. In my opinion at least. 

Planting specimens side by side or close by may be enough here. Bees love the flowers.

 

 

The last two images are older than the others. I took most of these earlier, to look at the fruits / berries. I want to see if different accessions or species have better tasting fruits or larger berries. 

 

The seeds that I bought online are McCurtain County types, the seller says they originated in Oklahoma. I believe their seed may have came from New Jersey plants. 

 

I've also read about a faster growing accession with larger leaves, called Louisiana.  It's supposed to be semi cold hardy and grow pretty quickly.

 

I'd honestly just want to focus on breeding smaller sized palms with larger edible berries. There are clades in the genus, so there could be barriers that prevent hybridization present as well.

 

I'd like cold hardy genetics, just to give to people in colder zone as well. I'd imagine that some Sabal hybrids may still form decent trunks.

 

I'm on mobile and I'm unsure if I posted these images correctly.

 

I found this site while googling Sabal species information and things. I figured that I would showcase a trunked specimen from Mississippi here.

 

Its survived at least one tropical storm according to some neighbors.

 

Some trees here are kinda bowed and bending. 

 

 

I hope that I'm posting this all in the correct place. 

Does anyone else have images or things of other trunking S. minor plants?

 

I have mostly only seen images of ones without trunks. Some of these plants seem to have been trimmed / cut, to keep them small.

[Ellocot]

The plant tag under one tree, I was trying to get a plant to grow underneath this, as there happened to be virginiana creeper growing up this thing originally. 

 

I tried planting a Melothria species to take its place, as a climber that wouldn't press too much on the Sabal minor.

[Ellocot]

I found some more older images. 

 

Some flowers and a bee.

 

Some people like flower images on palms and things I think.

[SeanK]

If you drive N/S on 49 near Yazoo City, you can see S.minor growing in hardwood swamps.

[awkonradi]

Welcome to PalmTalk!  I think the palm with a trunk is not a Sabal.  I think it is a Trachycarpus, but I will let wiser PalmTalkers confirm.

Edited July 15, 2023 by awkonradi

[Ellocot]

The one with a trunk had the same flowers and things, but they only came from the top. The flowers mostly died off - there are some dead ones still on there.

 

I'll go and check again.

 

 

Most of this area is pretty wet / humid and there happend to be swamps and the like here.

 

I'll go out and get closer images of the inner parts of the other if anyone wants.

 

 

Either way, I quite like the palm tree whatever it is.

[Ellocot]

I wasn't too sure about the fuzzy outer bark and other things, so there's that.

 

Trachycarpus might be correct.

 

 

Either way, I quite like it but it's a bit too close to a structure.

 

A vine was messing with most of the plant and messing it up, clung pretty tightly.

 

 

[Allen]

The bigger trunked palm is a Trachycarpus fortunei and in 8B you can grow quite a few palms.  The others are Sabal minor

[Ellocot]

Thanks!

 

I've also been looking at Jubaea chilensis and the mentioned Sabals.

 

Along with other palms and things.

 

I'm aware some other states have 8B zones, but with much drier climates or other conditions.

 

I'm going to try planting a sorta tropical / palm area. So, I figured that this would be a nice forum to join.

 

(I'm planning on growing Cuphea hyssopifolia and Rubus lineatus along with Bananas and things  - some of these would be near / underneath some plants, others would be near the bases of plants). 

 

 

I'd prefer to get plants that are tropical looking - palms yeah. But, edible traits, other than destroying entire trees for food, would be nice to have here.

 

There's a large unwooded area near the property, which we own a lot of. Because this is Zone 8b, I'd like to grow some crops that are at the "too hot" or at their edge of what they like in Zone 8 - uncommon fruits, plus some stuff that is at the start of their comfort zone in Zone 8.

 

Lone trees, not in proper forests or growths, seem very prone to lighting strikes if they are top tall.

 

I'm seeing three dead looking trees in the area I've mentioned - with splitting in them.

 

So, I'm probably going to be growing shorter lived trees, here and there just due to the mentioned reason. Ones that grow pretty quickly and can help with whatever.

 

Some species aren't as prone or as harmed by lightning. 

 

I've been considering planting some of the three redwood species here, along with some other stuff too.

 

Some of this would just need proper placements, as some palms are OK in wooded areas and can grow in forests, while others aren't fine with that.

 

I also have some Kentucky Coffee Tree seeds that I'll be scarifying and soaking here soon.

 

Most of what I'd like to grow, are very rare / living fossil species and the like.

 

If you see a genus with maybe 10 or less species in its genus, I've found that these used to be much larger and had larger homes. 

 

If anyone knows of just any plain old cool palms or ones that are only found in one part of the world, but formerly had larger ranges, I'd appreciate it.

 

 

I can ask about other species elsewhere. (Zelkova used to be as prevalent as Oaks in North America, now they're only in Asia and Europe to my understanding - Katsura trees have two species in their genus and their genus is the only living group in its family as well, Gingko bilboa is also on such a list. Akebia, Zabala and especially Boquila trifolioata are very cool. Any plants that compliment palms or help protect their bases and things naturally, would be appreciated.)

 

Palms are very nice plants. And a lot of species can be used to make baskets or have very strong fibers. Or edible fruits, flowers.

 

I figured I'd ask here, if anyone has favorites or anything that may grow well here - I'd appreciate it.

 

Palms have always interested me, so yeah.

 

 

Thanks for telling me what the larger palm is.